The genome of the zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha: a resource for comparative genomics, invasion genetics, and biocontrol.

The zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, continues to spread from its native range in Eurasia to Europe and North America, causing billions of dollars in damage and dramatically altering invaded aquatic ecosystems. Despite these impacts, there are few genomic resources for Dreissena or related bivalves. Although the D.

No clear effect of admixture between two European invading outbreaks of Diabrotica virgifera virgifera in natura.

In this study, we challenged the hypothesis that admixture may have had a positive impact in the context of the European invasion of the western corn rootworm (WCR), Diabrotica virgifera virgifera, LeConte. This beetle was introduced in Europe from the USA several times since the 1980's. The multiple introductions of this major pest of cultivated corn led to the formation of two major outbreaks in North Western (NW) Italy and in Central and South Eastern (CSE) Europe that eventually merged into a secondary contact zone where insects from both outbreaks interbreed.

Estimation of the dispersal of a major pest of maize by cline analysis of a temporary contact zone between two invasive outbreaks.

Dispersal is a key factor in invasion and in the persistence and evolution of species. Despite the importance of estimates of dispersal distance, dispersal measurement remains a real methodological challenge. In this study, we characterized dispersal by exploiting a specific case of biological invasion, in which multiple introductions in disconnected areas lead to secondary contact between two differentiated expanding outbreaks.

Sequence variability of the MspI satellite DNA family of the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus at different geographic scales.

Tandemly repeated sequences known as satellite DNA (satDNA) generally exhibit complex evolutionary patterns of concerted evolution in which mutations are homogenized and fixed in a stochastic process of molecular drive. Here, the nucleotidic variability of the MspI satDNA family of the pinewood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is analyzed in order to understand the evolutionary dynamics of satDNA at the intraspecific level. A total of 425 MspI monomer units, either PCR-amplified from isolates of local (Peninsula of Setúbal, Portugal) or worldwide origin, or retrieved from the B.

First insights into the genetic diversity of the pinewood nematode in its native area using new polymorphic microsatellite loci.

The pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, native to North America, is the causative agent of pine wilt disease and among the most important invasive forest pests in the East-Asian countries, such as Japan and China. Since 1999, it has been found in Europe in the Iberian Peninsula, where it also causes significant damage. In a previous study, 94 pairs of microsatellite primers have been identified in silico in the pinewood nematode genome.